In this thread in the beta forum, players are discussing a recent buff to the Type 7 which gives is longer range than many other ships, including dedicated exploration ships:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/405802-Type-7-bye-bye-ASP
It's been brought up before, but this kind of blanket buff really negates the need/desire/reason of having different ship types. In this example, if the change sticks, a cargo ship will become one of the most desirable exploration ships. While it does mean there will finally be a good long-range cargo ship, it really does mean that other ship types are much less desirable in that role as a result.
Frontier had a great idea with the Military Slot, allowing extra shielding and hull reinforcement in combat vessels without sacrificing the general purpose slots. If they would go all the way and introduce dedicated slots for all the different ship types, they could buff ships directly toward their intended roles for players who want to pursue specific careers, while at the same time keeping the "general purpose" types of ships for those who want all-rounders.
Using the military slot as the model, introduce:
Explorer Slots: Include on AspX/DBX dedicated slots for exploration, one each for discovery scanners or detailed scanners, or a special suite that either increases range/decreases scan time without engineering, or a special computer suite that boosts the FSD range/optimum mass for long range trips.
Cargo Slots: A Lakon exclusive on the T6,7, 9 and Keelback. Basically an extra slot on each ship for another cargo bay matching the largest class slot available. (Kind of like the buff the T9 is getting, but only for cargo slots.) Add a smaller slot dedicated for limpet controllers only for collection/mining.
*Bonus for Haulers* - would take more doing, but introduce the Heavy Haul concept like in Euro Truck/American Truck Sims, where you move giant pre-fabricated equipment and materials so big and bulky that you can't fit them in the sleek "The Big 3" ships. Sure, your trade cutter can hold 700 tons, but good luck squeezing a planetary refinery in that long thin hull. Having Dedicated Cargo Slots would model the contiguous, cavernous spaces you'd expect in those big boxy Lakon hulls that could carry giant, one-piece machinery for big profits, and would give dedicated cargo ships a reason to exist. Be good for Wing Missions, too, where that big fat Type 9 hauling a pre-fabbed Coriolis component across 180 lightyears needs a fighter escort. Also good for salvage missions where you have to bring back the entire wreck of a ship from a "Combat Aftermath" USS. Or, even simulate the transport of smaller ships from station to station, like passenger missions but for space truckers. The possibilities are endless.
Maybe have Manufacturer Characteristics: Give each of the different ship brands something special that makes them, well, special. Lakon obviously knows cargo, maybe because of their design bureau, every cargo bay installed gets a 15% increase in capacity. Faulcon Delacy gets a base 10% boost in power output or distribution. Gutamaya ships get automatic docking authorization just because they look good. Things like this would help differentiate the ship types even mroe.
EDIT: Passenger hauling... Give the Dolphin, Orca and Beluga bonuses for fitting passenger bays, either less mass because of better dedicated fittings, or a small bonus to the number of passengers each cabin can hold on one of these dedicated ships.
The bottom line is that the more the ships are buffed, the less diversity there will be between the types and the less reason there will be for having them. By buffing ships by adding specific abilities (and not by penalizing other ships) there will be in-game reasons to fly certain types of ships and reward those who want to concentrate on a specific playstyle.
I think this would go a long way to giving the different classes and ships some much needed character. Would there be any downside?
EDIT 2:/TLDR Just to clarify, I'm not suggesting forcing people into specific roles and abandoning multirole ships. What I'm saying is that if the game touts a ship as an "Explorer" that it have benefits that make it appealing to Explorers. If I'm selling a line of cargo ships, they should have abilities that make Space Truckers want to buy them. If you want to play a particular career, the ships advertised to perform that role should be able to outperform the multirole ships in that role.
Of multirole ships are going to be the ultimate, just sell one spaceship frame that can be upgraded in size and purpose over time. You know, take it to an engineer and have him gradually upgrade your Sidey into a Conda.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/405802-Type-7-bye-bye-ASP
It's been brought up before, but this kind of blanket buff really negates the need/desire/reason of having different ship types. In this example, if the change sticks, a cargo ship will become one of the most desirable exploration ships. While it does mean there will finally be a good long-range cargo ship, it really does mean that other ship types are much less desirable in that role as a result.
Frontier had a great idea with the Military Slot, allowing extra shielding and hull reinforcement in combat vessels without sacrificing the general purpose slots. If they would go all the way and introduce dedicated slots for all the different ship types, they could buff ships directly toward their intended roles for players who want to pursue specific careers, while at the same time keeping the "general purpose" types of ships for those who want all-rounders.
Using the military slot as the model, introduce:
Explorer Slots: Include on AspX/DBX dedicated slots for exploration, one each for discovery scanners or detailed scanners, or a special suite that either increases range/decreases scan time without engineering, or a special computer suite that boosts the FSD range/optimum mass for long range trips.
Cargo Slots: A Lakon exclusive on the T6,7, 9 and Keelback. Basically an extra slot on each ship for another cargo bay matching the largest class slot available. (Kind of like the buff the T9 is getting, but only for cargo slots.) Add a smaller slot dedicated for limpet controllers only for collection/mining.
*Bonus for Haulers* - would take more doing, but introduce the Heavy Haul concept like in Euro Truck/American Truck Sims, where you move giant pre-fabricated equipment and materials so big and bulky that you can't fit them in the sleek "The Big 3" ships. Sure, your trade cutter can hold 700 tons, but good luck squeezing a planetary refinery in that long thin hull. Having Dedicated Cargo Slots would model the contiguous, cavernous spaces you'd expect in those big boxy Lakon hulls that could carry giant, one-piece machinery for big profits, and would give dedicated cargo ships a reason to exist. Be good for Wing Missions, too, where that big fat Type 9 hauling a pre-fabbed Coriolis component across 180 lightyears needs a fighter escort. Also good for salvage missions where you have to bring back the entire wreck of a ship from a "Combat Aftermath" USS. Or, even simulate the transport of smaller ships from station to station, like passenger missions but for space truckers. The possibilities are endless.
Maybe have Manufacturer Characteristics: Give each of the different ship brands something special that makes them, well, special. Lakon obviously knows cargo, maybe because of their design bureau, every cargo bay installed gets a 15% increase in capacity. Faulcon Delacy gets a base 10% boost in power output or distribution. Gutamaya ships get automatic docking authorization just because they look good. Things like this would help differentiate the ship types even mroe.
EDIT: Passenger hauling... Give the Dolphin, Orca and Beluga bonuses for fitting passenger bays, either less mass because of better dedicated fittings, or a small bonus to the number of passengers each cabin can hold on one of these dedicated ships.
The bottom line is that the more the ships are buffed, the less diversity there will be between the types and the less reason there will be for having them. By buffing ships by adding specific abilities (and not by penalizing other ships) there will be in-game reasons to fly certain types of ships and reward those who want to concentrate on a specific playstyle.
I think this would go a long way to giving the different classes and ships some much needed character. Would there be any downside?
EDIT 2:/TLDR Just to clarify, I'm not suggesting forcing people into specific roles and abandoning multirole ships. What I'm saying is that if the game touts a ship as an "Explorer" that it have benefits that make it appealing to Explorers. If I'm selling a line of cargo ships, they should have abilities that make Space Truckers want to buy them. If you want to play a particular career, the ships advertised to perform that role should be able to outperform the multirole ships in that role.
Of multirole ships are going to be the ultimate, just sell one spaceship frame that can be upgraded in size and purpose over time. You know, take it to an engineer and have him gradually upgrade your Sidey into a Conda.
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